I was summoned to court to pay my share of a boat purchased last summer namely Pelican 507s. The annual toll being £411 for this vessel. I was surprised to see a summons for the amount of £240 (the years tax minus what amount they have managed to collect from the vessels former owner) as I was expecting a bill for the full year as when I bought the vessel in September it was untaxed.

This seems to mean that myself and the vessels previous owner are being allowed to pay on a pro rata basis. The case has been adjourned till 6th June when it'll be decided if I am liable for the tax on a pro rata basis ie £240 for the time last season I owned the vessel.

It will be interesting to see if this case will open the BA up to a more user friendly tax system. At present they are unwilling to accept a part payment for half the year on my vessel (having explained i intend to sell by the summer) for this year however claiming that I owe the exact same from the year before......

We will see what happens in June but till then I just thought I'd share this information see what others thoughts are on the matter